


Nightmares and Bed-Shares

by Phantomfluffandstuff



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom of the Opera (2004), Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe, Couch Cuddles, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Morning Cuddles, Mostly Fluff, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Short One Shot, Singing, Sleepy Cuddles, Some angst, extreme fluff, fluffy cuddles, happiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 17:18:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5594524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantomfluffandstuff/pseuds/Phantomfluffandstuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Erik has his nightmares, it's up to Christine to comfort him. But, when she awakes to the sound of her angel of music screaming, she realizes that tonight, comforting him will call for drastic measures...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares and Bed-Shares

**Author's Note:**

> _Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor will I ever. It belongs to M. Leroux and Mr. Lloyd Webber._

Christine meant to go to sleep earlier that night to make up for her lack of sleep of late. She would have too, if it had not been for Erik’s constant and exceedingly loud organ playing. Unfortunately for her, this was not an uncommon occurrence and it, understandably, had attributed to much of her new sleep deprivation. So, instead of sleeping, Christine lay with her head under her pillow trying in vain to block out the sound of her angel’s aggressive music. Eventually, when sleep did finally catch up to her, despite Erik’s organ playing, it was much later than she would have hoped, the time being around eleven or so. He was still playing, now a soft, sweet melody that reminded her of her youth, when she fell asleep.

It must have been around two or three in the morning when she woke again. The first thing she realized was that Erik’s music had finally ceased (this realization made her sigh in relief, for she was quite glad he seemed to have stopped); the second was that it was not, in fact, morning. The only reason Christine knew this was because there was no flower laying on her nightstand. For, Erik brought her a rose (well, it was usually a rose, occasionally he left other sorts of flowers, as well) without fail each morning after he awoke, which was around five usually, far earlier than Christine woke up. She had no idea where he got the roses or why, she certainly had never asked for them, but she secretly appreciated the gesture. There were few things Erik did for her just to show his affection, but in those few things he always delivered and so, Christine decided, she must have woken on her own. But, being a hard sleeper, she knew that she hadn’t simply awoken without reason and was now curious what had startled her from her sleep. That’s when she heard his screaming.

Quickly, she rose from her bed and pulled on her robe over her thin nightgown and crossed over to the door, anxious to find Erik. Nothing scared Christine more than the sound of Erik’s screams; for he was so strong and guarded, he never let her know when he was feeling pain. In fact, she sometimes had a hard time getting him to share any emotion with her at all. Now, as she walked toward the music room where she knew she would find him, her hands felt sweaty and her stomach fluttered in fear.

She had a guess why he was in such pain however: he often got nightmares. Not just bad dreams that make one groan and turn in sleep, but full-fledged night terrors that made him scream and shiver and clench up so tight that he would often be sore for a day or so afterward. He never spoke of them to her; the two of them often just pretended the dreams had never happened, on Erik’s terms, of course. He hated admitting his weakness, especially to her, and did not want her worrying for his sake. He could take care of himself. Christine, however, would have much preferred to talk to him about the nightmares, so she could help him. She hated to see him in so much pain.

At last, Christine flung open the door to the music room and saw him, her angel. He was curled up on the couch where she assumed he had fallen asleep again. He was shivering and twitching violently and murmuring something inaudible under his breath through teeth so clenched, it was a wonder that he could speak at all. Gently as she could, Christine took his hand in her own and kneeled down on the floor beside him. She often took it upon herself to comfort him during his nightmares and had, by now, come to figure out the best way of doing so. She began to stroke his dark hair and sing to him softly a lullaby that her father had taught her. She had to wake him gradually or else he may mistake her as a ghost from his past and do something he didn’t mean to. Christine had learned that the hard way.

Erik moaned again and grasped her hand so tightly Christine almost cried out in pain. Of course, he hadn’t meant to and she could hardly blame him for doing so. She hushed him softly and tried in vain to pull her hand from his painful grasp. Despite his thin appearance, he was actually quite strong. Realizing her attempts were futile, she simply continued singing her lullaby. Erik shivered again and screamed, a horrible, desperate sound which broke Christine’s heart.

“Erik, please,” she whispered. “Please wake up. It’s all just a dream. I’m here, your Christine is here.”

She pressed his hand to her cheek and tried to hold back her tears. She needed to be strong but it hurt her horribly to see Erik like this, shivering and screaming. He relaxed a little and then moaned again before beginning to talk again:

“Please.” He moaned. “I’m not such a monster… I never meant any harm… Please… I never meant to hurt anyone…”

He turned over and gasped then continued, “Oh! It hurts! Please… Anything but that, I am begging you… Please… I am sorry… I never meant any harm…”

He let out a sob and began to shiver even worse than before. He was grinding his teeth so hard that Christine could hear it. She had to wake him, she couldn’t let him continue to suffer like this. She began to cry, despite the fact that she had decided not to.

“Erik, wake up! Please, please, please wake up. I’m here, everything will be okay. Just wake up, my angel. I’m here.”

She climbed up onto the couch next to him and pulled him closer, wondering all the while what horrible things Erik had endured. He never spoke of his past to her and now she could see why. He had endured a living hell.

Still holding one his hands tightly in her own, she ran her other hand over his back, trying as best she could to calm him. She wished more than anything she could take his pain from him, but she couldn’t. Only be there for him. She ran her fingers along the outline of his tight jaw and continued with her lullaby, louder than before, desperate to wake him.

After a while of doing this, Erik’s shivering lessened and he began to breathe easier. Knowing now it would be alright to wake him, Christine shook her angel lightly and spoke to him. A few tries later, he came to, looking pale and wan and still shivering.

“Christine?” He gasped desperately. His voice was raspy from all the screams.

“Shhhh,” She hushed him gently, beyond grateful that he was finally awake. “I’m here now. It was just a dream, dearest. It’s all going to be okay now. Try to relax. I know… I’ve got you. I’m here.”

In saying this, she pulled him onto her lap, hugging him tightly and rocking him. He sighed and buried his face, mask and all, in her shoulder, breathing her in, letting her warmth comfort and reassure him. It was so hard though, when all those terrible memories came flooding back like that… It had all seemed so real. Yet, she shouldn’t be seeing him like this! He was Erik, the infamous Phantom of the Opera! But it felt so nice to feel her body against his, her gentle hands on his shaking back, the warmth of her against him… It was perfect. Perhaps, he thought, perhaps this time I shall let her comfort me… Just this once, of course. And so, this time he let her see him, really see him at his weakest, with all his flaws and silent tortures. And this time, he let her take it from him, as she so desired.

Christine ran her deft fingers through his hair and kissed him just so gently right on the top of his forehead, so gently he could hardly feel it. She rocked him and whispered sweet words of reassurance in his ear. Erik felt as if he were still dreaming, Christine hardly ever showed him this much physical affection and he was enjoying every second of it. He shivered again and she held him tighter, like a mother would a child.

“Christine?” Erik asked carefully. “Do you think you could possibly sing… For me?”

He looked at her with eyes so wide and pleading that she could hardly say no.

“Of course, dear one. Whatever you ask.”

She sang him her lullaby for quite some time, but neither of them really knew how long. With music, the time hardly seemed to pass at all.

Finally, Christine began to feel sleep coming to her again. Erik, however, decided he would not sleep again until he physically could not stay awake any longer. As much as Christine wanted to stay with Erik, the couch was horribly uncomfortable and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep well on it. Nor was it big enough to hold both her and Erik, unless they cuddled a little too close for comfort. No, she decided, she had a better idea…

She gently pushed Erik off of her lap and stood unstably, for both her legs had fallen asleep under Erik’s weight. She took his hand and motioned for him to follow her. He followed willingly, trusting her wherever she should take him, as long as they were together. She led him along the corridor until they came to her bedroom door, which she opened and entered into. Erik, however, stood right outside, unsure about entering. After all, he, himself had promised never to come inside but, as she was inviting him, he figured it would be alright.

Christine climbed onto her bed and scooted over to the farthest side and, seeing Erik hesitate, patted the spot next to her.

“It’s alright, Erik,” she said encouragingly. “Come on, now.”

Hesitantly, he climbed into Christine’s bed with her, wondering if this was a good idea. But, ah! what did it matter? They were just going to sleep, that much he knew, and honestly, this time he wanted nothing more than to sleep next to his lovely Christine and feel her presence beside him all through the night.

Like a small child, he curled up against Christine and buried his face in her shoulder. He knew his cold mask must feel uncomfortable against her skin but she made no complaint and he was most certainly not planning to remove it. He would keep it on for her sake. Christine wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, for he was still shivering and she felt that the tighter she held him, the safer he felt, nor was she wrong in thinking so.

She continued to sing to him softly; she knew it comforted him more than perhaps anything else and, after a while, his breathing became even and his shivering at last ceased. Christine smiled a little to herself. Erik would often not sleep for days after a nightmare of this degree and, the fact that he was now, meant that she and she alone had succeeded in comforting him more than anything else and had brought him peace beyond compare.

He sighed against her and she kissed his head lightly. At times like this, when Erik let her see all of him, all his flaws and fears and failures, she was quite convinced that she really and truly loved him, however complicated their relationship was at this point in time. All the same, it was strange and slightly unnerving to be this close to him with so little clothing on. But she trusted Erik, in spite of everything, and knew he just needed her presence beside him right now, nothing more, or else she never would have decided to let him join her in her bed.

Soon enough, she fell asleep again. She really rather liked cuddling with Erik. It made her feel warm and fuzzy and most of all, safe. The combination of these things was enough to lure her into a deep and contented sleep.

When she awoke again, this time in the morning, probably around eleven o’clock, Erik was still sleeping soundly next to her. She realized this was probably the best sleep he had gotten in weeks. Erik was not a deep sleeper and had a hard enough time sleeping the whole night through, without the nightmares. He was still curled up against her and Christine felt it would be most unfair to him to leave so, she resolved not to get up until absolutely necessary.

When, at last, the hunger pangs got to be too much for her, she got up as carefully as possible and made a simple breakfast for herself, consisting only of some toast and some fruit. When she returned back to her room, Erik was groaning and reaching out as if to hold onto Christine again but his fingers grasped empty air. Christine was surprised in the few minutes she had gone, his sleep had turned from peaceful to fitful. She had no idea she had that strong of an effect on him. She slid carefully back into bed, only after grabbing a book, prepared to stay as long as need be, until Erik woke up. The instant she laid down beside him again, Erik’s hands found her and he curled up against her again, whimpering softly. She patted his head affectionately, touched that he felt so calmed by her presence.

She stayed by his side for hours, waiting until he awoke. After all, it was the least she could do for him. When, finally, he did awake, Christine had read almost her entire book and was beside herself with boredom. It was almost three in the afternoon. He stirred softly before sitting up and stretching with a huge yawn. Then he noticed Christine laying beside him, smiling up at him brightly. His eyes widened in shock. Of course, he had known Christine had slept with him but he had told himself it was too good to be true and refused to believe it.

“Good afternoon!” Christine said in a sing-songy voice.

“What time is it?” Erik groaned, stretching again. He felt sore everywhere.

“Around three, I believe.”

“In the afternoon?!” Erik was horrified. He never slept that late. He hadn’t in years.

“Yes,” Christine smiled. “It’s quite alright.”

“Did you stay in here with me the whole time?” Erik asked.

“Yes,” She replied again, and seeing the look of shock on his face added hastily, “But don’t worry! I woke up late too! And I finished an entire book while I laid here! I didn’t mind it in the slightest.”

“You are too good to me,” Erik said softly. He didn’t deserve this and he knew that. “Thank you, Christine. That was the best night’s sleep I’ve gotten in…” He paused. He couldn’t even remember. Perhaps it was the best night’s sleep he had ever gotten.

“It’s the least I could do,” Christine replied lightly. “I slept well, too.”

The two of them sat for a moment in silence before Christine noticed Erik trying as well as he could to scratch his face without removing his mask. He usually slept without it, she knew, and by now, it must have been driving him mad but he still kept it on, not wanting Christine to see his horrid face despite all her past promises that it didn’t bother her.

“Go and wash up, Erik,” Christine with a smile and Erik looked at her gratefully before leaving to go to his own room and remove his mask. As he did so, he thought about his Christine and how much he loved her. He could not live without her, he realized, as much as he liked to think he could. He needed her; they needed each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This was my first fanfic so I hoped you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave questions/comments/suggestions... anything really. I'd love to hear from you guys! I hope my extremely fluffy fanfic brightened your day!


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